Chapter 8
“I’ll get going.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, phone.”
Han Taekyung took out his phone and held it out to Igeon.
“Could you give me your number?”
It’s hard to refuse when he’s already holding out his phone like this. Igeon sighed and took Han Taekyung’s phone to enter his number.
“Can I… contact you sometimes?”
“As long as it doesn’t interfere with selection tournament practice.”
“Of course.”
Han Taekyung said he could promise that and went down the rooftop stairs. Suddenly worried about how he would navigate the complex alleyways, Igeon stood at the rooftop railing and looked down. A little distance from Igeon’s house, he spotted a luxury car that would never normally be seen in this neighborhood. Could it be… Sure enough, Han Taekyung got into that car. When had he contacted them, and when had they come to pick him up? That’s what comes with being rich, I guess. Rather than feeling envious, Igeon only felt more puzzled about why someone like that kept being so nice to him.
“Haah…”
He lay back down on the wooden platform and looked at the sky. With two people reduced to one, the temperature somehow felt lower. It was cold. But he didn’t want to go inside right now. He wanted to stay a little longer, looking at the sky and saying goodbye to his parents.
â—†
He decided to live on. To live bravely on his own and achieve the dream his parents had so wanted for him. With that decision made, everything became easier, and there was less to think about. He just needed to continue doing what he had been doing. However, he quit his part-time job. Fortunately, with the compensation payment and his father’s insurance, he had enough money to live on without working for now. He considered moving since the rooftop apartment was too big for one person, but since it held memories with his father, he decided to stay for now. The rent wasn’t a burden yet anyway.
After talking with his teacher at school, he arranged to just attend classes minimally so he could focus on the selection tournament. Since he was already a junior national team member, the school gladly permitted this. After getting permission, Seo Igeon practically lived at Instructor Jin’s gym. Since his father’s passing, Instructor Jin had become both more caring and stricter with Igeon. And that was a great help to Seo Igeon—it kept him from thinking about other things.
Since that day, he’d received occasional text messages from Han Taekyung. Igeon wondered why he didn’t use a messaging app like everyone else these days, but Taekyung consistently sent texts. Perhaps it was his way of being polite.
– Tomorrow’s finally the selection tournament.
A text came at night. Igeon was already tense because of the tournament, and seeing a text from Han Taekyung made him wonder if Taekyung was nervous too.
– Yeah. I’m nervous. You?
– I’m nervous too.
– The great Han Taekyung, nervous? I guess… a selection tournament is still a selection tournament.
– Let’s do our best tomorrow.
– You too.
– See you tomorrow.
– See you.
After this brief conversation, Igeon put down his phone and closed his eyes. He desperately hoped that tomorrow he would be able to grasp what he wanted.
â—†
“What?”
But the selection tournament wasn’t going to be that easy. The biggest issue was the selection method that had changed starting this year. The difficulty of the first selection test, the pheromone control test, had been increased several times, leaving all the applicants in shock.
A white pill placed in his hand. It was a drug that neutralized the function of pheromone control injections. In other words, it would leave them defenseless against pheromones. Among the applicants, there were betas, but of course, there were also alphas and omegas. What was the intention of gathering everyone in one place and giving them this drug? He couldn’t understand what they were thinking. Naturally, there was fierce opposition from instructors and guardians.
However, the Sports Association was firm. Their decision was based on an incident that had happened overseas recently. During a judo match abroad, an omega had suddenly gone into heat. As a result, the alpha opponent went into rut, and all the omegas and alphas watching the match went into chaos. Investigation revealed that the omega had received a pheromone control injection just one week before the match, and there was nothing wrong with the drug. Even after repeated detailed tests, it was confirmed that the injection administered was functioning normally. So why had the heat cycle suddenly occurred? In the end, after multiple investigations failed to determine the cause, the case was closed without clear results. After that, sports associations worldwide were turned upside down. One might say that the omega athlete was simply unlucky, but there was no guarantee that such an incident wouldn’t happen again.
Because of this incident, the Sports Association realized two problems. First, athletes and related personnel were generally overconfident in drug efficacy and relied solely on it. Second, because of this high dependence, individuals’ pheromone control skills were inadequate. Until last year, with control injections and pheromone control training, the first test was practically a formality, and everyone probably thought of it as just a warm-up. But now, this year, that perception had to be completely shattered.
“Haah…”
After hearing the association’s position, Igeon could understand why they had done something so absurd. Thinking about it, although he was skilled at pheromone control, he had never experienced confronting someone else’s pheromones or controlling his own without the injections.
“This is giving me a headache.”
Instructor Jin, who had gone to talk with other instructors, returned and sat down next to Seo Igeon.
“The association is being stubborn.”
“They have to be. They must have anticipated the backlash, but the fact that they went ahead with this shows they have no intention of backing down.”
“Shouldn’t they investigate the pharmaceutical company first? There haven’t been any more accidents like that since then.”
“Well, that doesn’t mean the anxiety has completely disappeared.”
Igeon quietly looked at the pill resting in his palm.
“When does it start?”
“At 3 o’clock. Fortunately, they’re testing omegas, alphas, and betas separately.”
“But they’ll still be affected.”
“They’re using completely different buildings.”
“Ah… But betas have nothing to do with pheromones.”
“They’re still testing their resistance. They’re really determined.”
I suppose… Since people in their early twenties still have the possibility of presenting, they must have had their own headaches about it… Still, it was difficult not to feel perplexed.
“Are you okay?”
Instructor Jin looked at Igeon with worried eyes. Igeon nodded.
“We’ve come this far, what can we do?”
Igeon swallowed the pill and drank the water he had brought. He felt the pill going down his throat, but nothing else. However, as time passed, he began to detect more and more pheromones. It felt chaotic.
Igeon’s turn was 35th. He was supposed to wait in the prepared waiting room and then go to the testing room when his number was called. About 30 minutes after taking the pill, numbers 35 and 36 were called. Until then, he hadn’t thought anything of it. Assuming they were just calling two people at once, he received a “fighting!” from Instructor Jin and headed to the testing room.
“I’m telling you, this one can’t do it!”
A loud voice made him stop on his way to the testing room. Looking in that direction, he saw Instructor Kim Tae-woon raising his voice at someone who appeared to be an examiner, with Han Taekyung standing beside him.
“Please explain why not.”
“I can’t explain it, that’s the problem!! This one can’t do it. Or let him take the test separately.”
“That’s not possible. All applicants must take the exam under the same conditions.”
“You suddenly changed the testing method!! Oh, really!!”
“We notified everyone in advance.”
“Still, there could be exception clauses, couldn’t there? Please, let this one take the test alone!”
The examiner looked Han Taekyung up and down.
“I don’t see anything unusual. His health examination results were good, and he doesn’t appear to have any physical discomfort. That’s precisely why I can’t make an exception. If you’re dissatisfied with this test, perhaps withdrawing from the application is an option.”
“How can you say that?!”
“Instructor.”
As Kim Tae-woon rolled up his sleeves as if he couldn’t take it anymore, Han Taekyung stepped forward.
“It’s fine.”
“What’s fine about it?!”
“The examiner is right. It’s the same conditions for everyone. I should take the test in the same environment as everyone else. Otherwise, I might be misunderstood as receiving special treatment.”
“Han Taekyung, I understand what you’re saying. But your situation…”
“It’s okay. I can control it well.”
“Haah…”
Kim Tae-woon ran his fingers roughly through his hair. Then he clicked his tongue once and grabbed his disciple’s shoulders.
“If it seems like you can’t handle it, call me immediately. You have to call me right away, understand?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t make me get scolded by your father.”
“That definitely won’t happen.”
“…Alright, I believe you.”
Kim Tae-woon nodded as if he had no choice. Then he apologized to the examiner and stepped back. This time, Han Taekyung apologized to the examiner, who seemed to accept the apology with a nod before looking at Igeon standing at the end of the hallway.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
